Colleen,

My lymph nodes under my chin were swollen prior to my surgery and once removed - they were cancer free (They were about twice the normal size) however, I have bad allergies and both the surgeon and the rad onc that I saw for opinions attributed the hyperplasia of the nodes due to the allergies. So, you could have the same thing going on. I don't know about the ear pain - if the node was near the ear and swollen - I would think that might exert a little pressure and possibly that could also be attributed to the swollen nodes. Let's hope this is the case!